Twisted Legacy
by Kalshion
Summary: A battle between the TSA and a criminal result in a child becoming an orphan, but there’s more to her than what meets the eye… especially her intelligent device. However, dark secrets rest beneath the surface… please R
1. Act 1 l Prologue

**Disclaimer – I do not own the rights to this anime nor ****its**** subsidiaries, any relation to real life people are purely coincidental. **

**Note to readers – please R&R, any tips to improve this and future chapters are appreciative. This story is an AU (Alter Universe) in the event of another reason of Nanoha.**

Gateways opened, TSA ships flew into the system, cruisers, destroyers, hospital ships, all ventured toward a station orbiting the fifth planet of the Galison System, the station shuddered under a mysterious assault.

Alarms blared, explosions rippled through the corridors as people ran to the evacuation shuttles. Soldiers shouted orders, while people just ignored them, trampling woman and children while beat feting to the evacuation transports.

Amongst the group was a nine-year-old girl who was trying to find her family, but the crowd of people made it difficult as she was dragged away from her parents, "Momma!" she shouted as she lost sight of mother, and was soon carried into another part of the station.

Deeper within, near the stations reactor core, a large battle ensued. "Devine…. BUSTER!" A young adult shouted as she aimed her staff toward a man wearing a black robe. He turned around and threw up a barrier, which effortlessly blocked the attack, sending it scattering into the surrounding walls and causing further damage to already heavily damaged reactor core.

"This is not a place to fight…" Hayate said as she cried to throw a chain bind on the man, but failed in every attempt. She cursed when the man got closer to the spinning core, angry dark purple light emitted off the reactor shielding and onto the walls.

"You're pathetic, can't attack me without risking the destruction of this station?" he taunted them, grinning in the process.

He ran his foot across what appeared to be nothing more than mid air, but sparks spread, showing that there was indeed something under him. He braced himself before lunging toward Fate; she brought her Bardiche to bear and blocked the attack. "Why don't you stop holding back and worrying about these pathetic worms!" he shouted and spun his foot around, connecting with Fate's chest and sending her careening into the side of the reactor core.

The core pulsed several times in response to the sudden change in containment, then settled back to it's normal purplish color.

Elsewhere in the station, the young girl continued to fight her way through the crowd, she finally found a vacant hallway and quickly ran down the hallway. Her uniform in torn and tattered, blood streaking from a facial wound she got when she fell and something brushed aside her face, cutting her.

"Momma…" she said softly and continued her run. Suddenly the station shook violently, throwing to the ground with a loud 'thud' and accompanied by a loud 'crack' as her shoulder was dislocated, she screamed in pain as she laid there.

"aaa….." she said as she struggled to back to her feet. Something else had snapped in her body, she could feel her lungs become tense; breathing had also become difficult as blood filled her throat. She spat on the ground in an effort to make it easier for her to breath.

Back in the reactor room, the core had gone critical due to all the magic that had been thrown around. However, it was Nanoha's last attack that shattered the core.

She brought Raging Heart to bear on the man, "Devine…" she said as energy collected on the tick of her staff. Suddenly it shot forth when she shouted, "BUSTER!" and connected with the man's hand. What should've been him looking on in fear, turned into a devious grin as he routed Nanoha's Devine Buster into the reactor core's containment field.

Nanoha went wide-eyed at this and was barely able to bring up a barrier when the field shattered and the room began to shake. "Heh…. Catch ya later!" the man laughed evilly before vanishing in a blaze of blue and white particles.

The three of them looked at each other, each cursing in their own right.

_Nanoha, Fate, Hayate! The stations' reactor core has gone critical! Get out of there now!_ someone shouted frantically over their comm. headsets.

They nodded before flying out of the core, explosions chained all around them, as the core was finally unable to contain all the energy it was producing. With a sudden, blinding, light, the core exploded.

Shuttles disconnected from their boarding tubes, but the explosions followed them, annihilating not only the shuttle, but those on board as well, but also killing everyone in the evacuation chambers. The explosions continued into the residential area, where thousands screamed in pain.

In a secreted part of the station, the young girl could feel the station as it was being torn apart. She huddled near a water pipe; water spurted out of small fissures that had opened during the trembling. Then a resounding and devastating explosion rippled through the station, literally tearing it to pieces.

The TSA Fleet looked on in utter shock; hundreds, thousands, dead in an instant. The bridge crew aboard the Asura could only watch in utter horror, knowing the full extent of what had just occurred.

"Ammy…." Nanoha said, her voice sounded sad, worried, if not empty. "Any chance of survivors?" she asked.

Ammy broke herself away from the destruction, her hands dancing across the control panel. "No- wait… I'm picking up a faint life sign!" she said, her voice full of excitement, however it was short lived when she pinpointed where it was. "It's coming from a part of the station that somehow survived the explosion, however it was quickly falling apart," she said.

Hayate looked toward the station, a barrier around them and protecting them from the harsh effects of space. "Vita took refuge in that same part of the station, I just told her," Ammy said.

_I'll see if I can locate them, where are they Ammy?_ Vita's voice could be heard over the comm. set.

"Below you.. at least six decks.. you must hurry though!" Ammy said.

Vita flew down the various corridors, stopping every once in awhile to blow a hole in the flooring so she could progress to a lower level.

Six decks below her, the young girl struggled to find a way out of that section of the station, unaware that she was trapped.

Blood dripped on the ground, leaving a trial as she made her way slowly down a hallway. Emergency lights only barely lit the way, but they flickered as that section of the station was quickly losing power.

"Momma…." she kept her pace up until the section she was in rumbled, the sounds of screeching steel could be heard in the distance as gravity begun to rip what was left of the station apart. She soon heard something behind her, an explosion; she ignored and continued down the hallway.

She soon found a large metal door that blocked her way; she pressed her small-bloodied hand against the door. Tears flowed down her cheeks, she slumped onto the floor and resigned herself to the fact that she might not make it out.

The temperature around her suddenly went up, causing her to be alarmed. She struggled to get back to her feet and moved back the way she came, but only got a small distance before something exploded behind her, she a fraction of a light a white barrier appeared behind her but quickly flickered out of existence, throwing her partway down the hallway and into the sidewall. Blood pooled around her, her sight began to fade; she could feel her body becoming limp. "Mo…mma…" she said again.

Suddenly she saw something in her vision; it looked to be a person. Her eyes flickered as blood covered them, she couldn't hear anything before blacking out.

Vita ran over to the young girl, kneeling down. She cursed when she saw how bad she looked, "I found her," she said to someone. She picked up the young girl, blood dripped from her body and onto the floor. She brought up barrier around both her and the girl and flew back the way she had come.

_Vita! Hurry!_ Ammy shouted. Vita grumbled something and flew out of the secreted section just as gravity ripped it to pieces.

She floated there in space, watching gravity as it twisted steel into shapes unknown. With a heavy sigh she turned toward an approaching frigate, a medical symbol painted on the hull. Nanoha, Fate and Hayate soon joined her, "so young…" Hayate said.

Vita's nose wrinkled as the smell of copper filled the barrier; she hated the smell as it reminded her of a previous case, one that she almost didn't survive.

They flew into the bay of the frigate where a medical team was awaiting them. A medic took the young girl off Vita's hands and placed her on the stretcher. As they carted her away another medic approached Vita, "where are you hurt ma'am?" he asked.

She blinked before realizing what he was talking about, "It's not my blood," she said. The medic nodded and left to tend to other needs, "Vita… you ok?" Hayate asked, noting Vita's worried expression.

Vita just looked at her before following the medic's to the infirmary. "What is that about?" Nanoha asked, Hayate just shrugged.

As they were about to follow her, a display appeared to their sides. A man wearing an admiral's uniform appeared, he looked worn and tired, his expression serious, a strip on his uniform said 'Admiral Harlown'. "Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, HQ wants you three to report right now…"

The group sighed, knowing what it was about. "I wonder if they'll blame us for the station's destruction…" Nanoha solemnly said, "it was my Divine Buster that shattered the containment field and caused the reactor to explode," she added.

"Yea, but if that man hadn't of routed your attack into it.. that wouldn't have happened," Fate said, her expression full of sympathy.

Hayate sighed. "Whether we like, or not, we'll still be blamed…" she said and the three headed off.

Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Vita watched the doctors as they tended to the young girls wounded. Once was searching her pockets for some sort of identification, soon his hand brushed across something, he pulled it out to find a school ID. He looked at it, sighed, and handed it to Vita.

Vita accepted it and looked at it. While most of it was covered in blood, some of it dry, she could make out the girls name and age, along with grade. "Sayuka Hastened," she said and looked behind the ID at the girl. "Nine year's old, third grade student… Time Space Military Academy…" she shook her head and placed the ID on a cart that had some of her torn clothing.

She stood there and watched, soon a nurse walked up to her. "Ma'am, you should be cleaned up as well, if that's not your blood then you'll get an infection.." the nurse said, holding a white hospital gown. Vita sighed and turned to the nurse, "I'll wait…" she said, the nurse sighed and then nodded, walking off.

For several minutes, she watched the doctors as they removed the girls clothing and placed it on another cart. She scanned her body with a device that was used for identifying any and all injuries.

Vita glanced to her left at a monitor, which displayed the girl's body. A red 'oval' appeared over areas that the scanner identified as an injury, and the red oval appeared a lot. She mentally winced every time it appeared, she knew that each appearance would have life altering effects on the girl, when it was finally done the doctor had a genuine look of concern.

The glass doors leading into the infirmary opened and Signum soon walked in. "So this is where you were," she said when she spotted Vita and her battle dress that was covered in blood. "How is she?" she asked.

Vita's expression went worry to sadness. "Just from what I can see… it doesn't look to good…" she said.

The doctor soon walked out of the room and over to the two of them. "What's the prognosis doc?" Signum asked him. The doctor shook his head. "She's got a dislocated left arm, one of her lungs is punctured, and her right kidney will have to be replaced. Her heart has serious stress damage as well, that's the most serious though, even if we manage to repair all the damage to it.. she'll be unable to do anything strenuous," he said and handed Signum the clipboard.

She looked over the information and sighed. "I see…" she said and handed it to Vita, the girl was visibly concerned. "If I had gotten to her sooner… perhaps she wouldn't be in this condition…." She said angrily.

Signum placed a hand on Vita's shoulder. She looked up at her and smiled slightly, before looking back into the room.

**TSA Temporary HQ**** "****Asura****"**

Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate walked into the large circular room that the admirals were using as a temporary headquarters. A long metallic table led from the front of the room, to the back. Ten chairs were on either side, but only lower ranked admirals occupied five of each side, with the chair located in the back occupied by a higher ranking admiral.

Nanoha knew what this meant and walked past several of the admirals, stopping just a few feet from the head admiral. That's when it started, they started blaming her for the deaths of thousands, not even willing to hear her own opinion.

"You realize what your actions brought?!" A female admiral shouted, standing up from her chair and slamming the table with her hand. "Nine thousand people dead and all because you couldn't control your damn magic!"

Nanoha stood there, behind her Fate and Hayate watched on. Both of them felt this inquiry was in jest, "those admirals 'know' what really happened… so why are they blaming her?" Fate said in a furtive whisper to Hayate so that the admiral's couldn't hear.

The other admirals through in their own comments, some going back to previous missions, and pointing out her 'flaws' and mishaps. This only made Hayate and Fate angrier as they knew that there were lie's amongst the various admiral's comments.

"What are we to do with her?" A male admiral said his voice gruff and old.

"I don't know," Another said. This one was a bit younger.

Amongst the admirals, Chrono shook his head. _No investigation, no evidence… they just put her on the spot and accuse her… what is their game I wonder…_

While Chrono was thinking the rest of his fellow, admirals continued to look through Nanoha's mission reviews. Some went as far back as when she first discovered she could use magic, pointing out that it was a mistake for her, as a child, to be given such responsibility not even bothering to point out that she was, in a way, forced into the job.

Others also pointed out unofficial missions outside of the TSA purview, as in when Nanoha had got off to rescue a group of people who had been held up by a mage with suicide on his mind.

Each time they pointed out a 'mishap' Nanoha would try to counter it, but never got as far as a "that's…" before being interrupted by one of the admirals.

Finally, after over an hour, the head admiral stood up. "Under article twenty five, subsection five it reads 'air force mages shall not engage in combat in or around civilian population centers without permission from their commanding officer or the officer in charge of the operation," he said and placed the slate down on the table and then looked up."Captain Nanoha, you have a choice here… you can either resign your commission without contest… or we can have you thrown out forcefully with a full media present," he said. Nanoha looked angry, her fist in a ball, she stood there for several minutes. "Well?" The head admiral asked, his voice irritated.

"I'll…. Resign…" she said, turning away from the admirals and leaving. One of them voiced disapproval but stopped when the head admiral raised his hand. Hayate and Fate followed her out, "Nanoha-chan…" Fate said, Nanoha grumbled, she felt that something was foul, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

As they exited the room they were approached by two TSA security officers, each wielding a weapon. "You'll have to come with us," they said. Nanoha stood and stared at them, "mind if I at least check on someone?" she asked.

The guards nodded and escorted the group to the ships hanger bay where they boarded a shuttle for the medical frigate. Once on board they were brought to the ships massive infirmary. The room could easily treat well over a hundred patients, but this was only one room, and on one deck. There were ten decks to the ship, each having eight massive infirmaries' to treat the wounded.

They walked into the room that Vita and Signum were in. "Nanoha…" Vita said. Nanoha smiled, "Already heard.. huh?" she asked. Vita and Signum didn't say a word to that effect, instead just nodding their heads. "New's travels fast," Nanoha added and walked past them and to the large window.

"How is she?" Nanoha asked.

"The doctor says she's lucky, she's lost almost seventy five percent of her blood, and yet is still alive," Signum said. Folding her arms over her chest and staring at the girl who was lying on the medical bed, around her doctors and nurses tended to her dislocated arm, and numerous internal injuries.

"The doctor also said that there's brain swelling, so it's possible she may also have brain damage. How severe,? He won't know until after she comes out of the coma," Signum said. Nanoha nodded, sighing at the state the girl was in. "Family?"

Signum sighed and shook her head. "From what I was able to find out, her family was aboard the station when it blew… the odds of survival are low, in fact, some within the fleet claim she's the only survivor so…"

Nanoha shook her head. "Poor thing… to lose a family at that age," Nanoha said and placed her hand on the window.

**Author Notes – cruddy start I know , not to mention that 'how' it starts is eerily similar to how ****StrikerS**** did (the only difference is that instead of an airport, it's a space station, but that's about where the similarities end) this chapter is subject to change with improved details and spelling/grammar.**

**_This chaper has been revised with improved spelling/grammar along with some added content. This chapter has gone through five revision's since 10/28/07_**


	2. Act 1 l Beginnings

_**Notes – Changes made to better reflect the ending of **__**StrikerS**__**, while this story is still an AU, some things **__**have been left**__** unchanged while others have been added. **_

_Two __years__ later…_

_Usa__ Dimension, __Vizan__ Planet, __Eisen__ province._

A gentle wind blew through the city of Utina, located on a tropical continent. The city was quite small, with only a population of roughly twenty thousand. It was considered the smallest city in the province, with only a couple schools and hospitals.

On a hill, overlooking the city was a medium sized home with two floors; each room had its own balcony. On one of those was Nanoha, she looked out at the distant ocean, a water bottle in her left hand and a book in her right.

"Such a beautiful ocean," someone said from behind. Nanoha turned to find Hayate standing in the doorway; she wore a full military uniform.

"How long has it been?" Hayate asked Nanoha, whom sighed.

"Two year's now…" Nanoha said and sat on a chair near a table.

Around her neck was red ball, it pulsed every now and then. "I see they still haven't had much success in taking Raging Heart from you," Hayate smiled and took a seat on a chair across her Nanoha.

"How is she doing?" Hayate asked.

Nanoha smiled. "Saku? She's doing fine, although she's been in a couple fights though…" she said and placed her book on the table and took a sip from her water bottle. "The headmistress said it was a reputable school and yet there are students who are starting fights with her on a monthly basis now… I may have to pull her out and find another city…" Nanoha sighed.

"How's Vita-chan?" Hayate said, glancing toward the ocean. In the distance several fishing trollers could be seen making their back to the docks, while beyond them a few tankers were making their way out to sea.

"Vita's doing ok, Saku seems to trust her more than anyone else," Nanoha said. "Right now I think Vita is at the school watching over her, I don't know why though… since that incident two years ago Vita's been… rather strange," Nanoha said, her expression full of worry.

"Well, Signum did say that Vita some-how feels responsible, but I don't know why since she wasn't involved in the battle… she was just a part of the evacuation group," Hayate said and got up. "Coffee?" she asked.

"No thanks," Nanoha said and set the water bottle down on the table.

Several minutes passed before Hayate returned with a cup of coffee. "How's Rein?"

"Busy, as always, the TSA keeps us busy now-a-days… they still however won't honor my request," Hayate said and took a sip from her coffee cup.

Silence fell over the two for several minutes before Hayate spoke up. "How are you doing?" she asked.

Nanoha sighed. "Since I was forced to retire I've been able to live just a normal life, well, about as normal as you can come with reporters sometimes knocking on your door and asking for interviews…" she said, grumbling at the thought of another showing up.

She was about to say more when the phone rang, she looked at the caller ID and sighed. "Her school," was all Nanoha said before picking up. "Takamachi Residence, Nanoha speaking," she said into the phone.

After about a minute, she sighed. "I'll be right down," she said and hung up. "It seems Sakuya's been in another fight…" she said and walked into the home and down the stairs, grabbing her coat in the process.

"Nanoha," Hayate said from the stairway, Nanoha stopped in the doorway and looked up at her. "We've have been able to confirm that the necklace that is around her neck is, in fact, an intelligent device…" Hayate said and walked down the stairway and pulled out a report from her bag and handed it to Nanoha.

She opened it up and looked through it, "but you're unable to determine what 'type' of magical system it uses…" Nanoha said as she flipped through the pages. "No.. plus the only time we can actually examine it is when something happens, like what occurred a few months ago…" Hayate said.

"Don't remind me," Nanoha said and handed her back the folder. She then left for the car and soon drove off, "but there's more to her necklace than meets the eye…." Hayate said with a heavy sigh before putting her cap on and leaving.

**Seshitonen**** Private Elementary School**

_Headmistresses' office_

In the headmistress office a young girl was crying, her eyes read and face full of tears. "Sakuya, please calm down," the nurse said but it was no use, the girl continued to cry. On her right cheek was a red brush, her uniform was partially torn apart.

Sakuya was wearing a light blue dress with a white collar and light blue trim, her cuffs were also white but had two light blue trims. On her right sleeve was her grade, fifth grade class two, on her left was the school name and it's emblem.

Another room over yelling could be heard as the headmistress was lecturing the student who had started a fight with her.

The nurse sighed; she was unable to address Sakuya's brush. She was frustrated, if not angry, both at the student and her Sakuya. The nurse decided to stop trying and just sat down next to the girl, two of her friends were also, with her trying to calm her down but it was to no avail, she kept on crying.

Finally, a knock came to the door and the headmistresses' secretary walked over and opened it. "Ms. Takamachi," the woman said and stepped aside so Nanoha could come into the room.

Sakuya, the moment she heard Nanoha's last name, instantly turned to her. Tear's still ran down her face, Nanoha smiled at her and walked over to the sofa she was sitting on. Nanoha knelt down in front of her, removing a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping away the tears.

In a dark corner, Vita stood, watching everything. Nanoha briefly turned toward her but didn't address her, she then turned her attention back to Sakuya. "Sakuya, let the nurse tend to that bruise," she said and placed her hand around the bruise. Sakuya visibly winced when she touched it.

"O… ok…." Sakuya managed to say, she was still crying but not as much as before. "This will sting a bit," the nurse said and wiped a cloth that had a foul smelling liquid on it over the bruise. As expected Sakuya pushed away from the nurse, but not because of the pain but because of the foul smell.

To that, the nurse just smiled. "It's already on," she said and placed the cloth in a container to be washed. She then closed up her medical kit and sat there. Nanoha smiled at Sakuya and was about to say something when the door on the far end of the room opened, the headmistress walked out, rubbing her temples. "Ma'am, Ms. Takamachi is here," her secretary said.

"Ahhh, I'm glad you came," she said and walked over to her desk. Nanoha stood up and walked over to her and stared out the window, "what's the reason 'this' time?" Nanoha asked irritation present in her tone.

The woman sighed and removed her glasses and took out a cloth from her pocket to clean them. "Student claims she 'looked at him wrong,'" she said, but it was obvious the headmistress didn't believe the kids story.

Nanoha shook her head. "Uh huh.." she said and pressed her back against the window, her arms folded over her chest.

The headmistress shook her head. "It's his word against her's, but I don't find it plausible to start a fight just because someone looked at another person 'wrongly'," she said and put her glasses back on.

"In any event, what's going to happen now?" Nanoha asked, curious what the headmistress would do. "You know I don't talk about punishments when it involves another student," she said and turned away from Nanoha. "Your daughter is upset, so I think it's best you take her home. Today is the last day of school before summer break, perhaps take her out to the various amusements located across the planet," the headmistress suggested.

Nanoha smiled. "I actually plan on having her visit Hayate at TSA HQ," she said and pushed off the window. The woman nodded and then looked toward the corner of her office, "are your people always so quiet?" she asked, it was obvious that she was nervous with Vita standing there watching and observing.

"Why not ask them? They aren't 'my people' anymore, just friends and family," she winked and walked over to Sakuya. The eleven year old had stopped crying but was still wondering what the nurse had placed on the bruise, whatever it was, was quickly healing it.

"Come on Sakuya, let's go home," Nanoha said.

"Ok…" Sakuya said in a low tone. Nanoha had always found it odd that Sakuya likes school, especially since every other child she had witnessed since she had graduated always hated school. "Ruri, Rena," Nanoha said, turning to two of Sakuya's friends who had come with her to the headmistresses office. "If you two want to visit her you may, in fact, when are your parent's home?" she asked.

Ruri and Rena are both twins; having met Sakuya in their third grade orientation class two years ago. They quickly became her best friends though when Sakuya began to gradually open up to them about what had happened to her biological parents.

Ruri looked at her twin sister and then back at Nanoha. "They should be home in a few hours, why?"

"Well I'd like to ask if you want to go with my daughter and I to Mid-Childa," Nanoha asked.

The twins looked at each other once more. "We can ask, but I doubt they'll let us go…. Mother doesn't like it when we are away from her for too long," Rena said. The little girl folded her arms over her chest and made a sideways glance at the wall.

Vita laughed and came out of the corner, her arms also folded. Her laugh caught the twins off guard, resulting in them backing up a few steps when they saw her. "Parents are always over-protective," Vita said and walked over to Nanoha and Sakuya.

Sakuya smiled and ran over and hugged Vita. Vita blushed slightly, then smiled and placed her hand on Sakuya's head, ruffling her hair. "Shall we go?" Vita asked Sakuya whom nodded. The two of them headed for the door and were soon out of the headmistress's office.

Nanoha sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm rather tired of students starting fights with my daughter," she said to the woman. The woman shrugged her shoulders, "there's not much I can do since the fights are isolated incidents, I can only give those students detention and warning," she said. Nanoha stared at the headmistress for a few before leaving her office; she found Vita and her daughter down the hallway and on the second floor staring out the hallway window.

She hadn't really given much notice, but Sakuya's uniform was partly torn. The back of her collar, which extended almost to her waist, was torn along the left side. There was still discoloration from the bruise on her face but it wasn't very noticeable.

"Sakuya…." Nanoha softly said. Sakuya had her hands on the window when she heard her name; she turned her head toward her mother. "Let's go, I'll take you to the children's park ok?" she said. Sakuya smiled and walked away from the window and followed her down the stairs, Vita in tow.

They stopped at the entrance when Sakuya realized she had forgotten her school bag. "Sakuya!" Sakuya blinked when she heard her name, she turned to find Rena at the stairway holding her school bag. Sakuya rushed over to her friend and smiled, "Thanks Rena," she said. Rena smiled, giving her a thumbs up before heading back up the stairs.

Nanoha walked over to Sakuya and gently took her school bag. They then made their way out of the school and to a nearby parking lot. Nanoha opened the passenger side door of her car and placed Sakuya's school bag on the seat, then closed it and opened the back door so Sakuya could get in. Vita opened the door on the other side of the car and also got in.

Within minute's they were gone. Nanoha drove out of the parking lot and down the street, stopping at a light until it was green and then going. "We'll stop at home first," Nanoha said. Sakuya nodded and laid her head on Vita's lap.

Nanoha smiled when she noticed this in the rearview mirror. Soon Sakuya was asleep, "or perhaps we'll just head home and let her rest for a few hours," Vita suggested.

They drove for several minutes until they got the double gates leading up to the house, they stopped at the gates for a few seconds; Nanoha placed her hand over the dashboard and typed something into what appeared to be a keypad. Then the gates opened and she drove onto the property.

She parked the car in front of the house, then exited. Vita sat there and waited until Nanoha was able to pick Sakuya up and carry her into the home, Vita got out of the car and looked around. The air was clean and the sky was turning ugly, dark clouds had started to roll in from the ocean.

As she watched the clouds, she saw bolts of lightning impact the water, then after ten seconds she heard the sound of thunder. "Ten miles away…." Vita said and turned back to the house.

The house was surrounded by a large garden, just a few feet from the house was a small area of the garden that had vegetable being grown. Vita could barely make out a figure tending to the vegetable garden.

Inside the house, Nanoha had placed Sakuya in her bed and pulled the sheets over her. Sakuya's room had a single large bed, with a desk located near the window where she could work on her homework.

As Nanoha watched her daughter, Vita had entered the room and was standing near the window. "Vita, I appreciate you being with Sakuya every night," Nanoha said, not turning toward the girl.

Vita smiled and walked over to Sakuya's bed. "It was a surprise when we discovered that Sakuya can't stand not having someone near her at night… I don't know what really happened before I found her, but she must've been terrified to be away from her mother," Vita said and sat down on the bed. "She's unable to sleep on her own; she has to have someone to sleep with her in order for her to get any rest,"

For several minute's the two of them stayed in the room until Vita got up. "You're going to take Sakuya to HQ?"

"I'd like to, but the TSA won't let me near the facility, they are even overriding Hayate's authority there. I can only drop her off at the airport from there you'll have to take her, and if her friends come, to HQ," Nanoha said.

Vita grumbled. "I still don't like how they just placed you in front of all those admirals and didn't let you voice your opinion," she said, trying hard to keep her voice down. She was generally upset, and had been since that day.

Nanoha smiled and placed her hand on Vita's shoulder. "That's in the past, there isn't anything we can do now," she said and walked out of the room. Vita just watched her leave and shook her head, _How__ can Nanoha say that? She knows just how unfair the ruling was…_

**Later that day, ****Night time**

**Weather: **_**Stormy**_

The sound of thunder outside her bedroom window caused Sakuya to awake. She pressed her hands against her ears to try and block out the sound, but the flashes of light were still there and still frightened her.

"I'm here," she heard Vita's voice to her right side. She turned to find Vita laying there reading a book, Sakuya only partially smiled before another boom caused her to grip Vita's clothing and bury her head under Vita's waist.

Downstairs Nanoha was finishing up with dinner when a phone call came. She walked into the living room and looked at the ID and smiled, picking it up she said. "Nanoha here,"

_Nanoha?__ This is Rena, __uhh__our__ mother said it was o__k but she wanted to talk to you _Rena said on the other end. Nanoha nodded, even though she knew that Rena couldn't see it. "No problem, put her on please," she said to Rena.

The line was quiet for a few; the only discernable sound was the obvious handling of the phone as it switched hands.

_Hello?__Nanoha__?This__ is Ms. __Takena__, can you assure me that my daughters will be safe? _Ms. Takena asked.

Nanoha sighed; it was always the same conversation with her every time she had invited Sakuya's friends to spend time with Sakuya. "They'll be safe ma'am; they'll be going to a military facility. No safer place than that," Nanoha said, smiling.

_Uh huh…_ Takena said, not sounding too convinced. _I'll take your word for it, but if anything happens to them, I'm holding you directly responsible_

Nanoha merely nodded. "No problem ma'am," she said and waited until Takena hung up before placing the phone back on its holder.

She walked back into the kitchen and continued to clean up the table until she heard something at the kitchen doorway, she turned to find Sakuya standing there rubbing her eyes. "Hungry?" Nanoha asked. Sakuya nodded and walked over to the table and sat down, she was still wearing her school uniform.

Nanoha looked into the cabinet and pulled out a can of soup. She opened the can and poured it's contents into a pot and began to cook, "after dinner you'll need to go to bed as Rena and Ruri will be coming here before you three leave for the air port," Nanoha said while stirring the soup.

"You're not coming?" Sakuya asked, still partly tired.

"You know I can't," Nanoha said and turned to her daughter. "However, Vita will be going with you so," she said and noticed her daughter nodding; she placed her hands and arms on the table and buried her head.

She smiled and went back to cooking. After a few minute's the soup was ready, she poured it into a bowl and placed it in front of Sakuya, Sakuya lifted her head and sniffed. Then took her spoon and tasted the soup, after a few seconds a glitter came to her eyes.

"I'm glad you like it," Nanoha said and watched as her daughter started on her soup. She then walked over to the refrigerator and poured a class of milk and juice and placed both next to Sakuya's bowl.

Nanoha sat the trouble, watching her daughter, it was a quiet dinner. Sakuya didn't say a word while she ate, instead just concentrating more on her food, when she was through she picked her bowl up and placed it in the sink along with her two glasses. "Thanks mother," Sakuya said.

"No problem, now get changed into your pajamas and into bed ok?" Nanoha said. Sakuya nodded and walked out of the kitchen, as she did her mother blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Huh?" she said and shook her head, "I must be working too hard…" she said and got up to pour herself a cup of coffee.

As she stood there in front of the coffee maker, thoughts rushed through her head. She was thinking about what had happened two year's prior. "I just hope a visit doesn't bring back memories, I'd hate for a repeat of last year…" she said and took a sip from her cup.

She then walked over to the glass door and looked out. Every few seconds a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed quickly by a loud clap of thunder. The rain that was falling assured Nanoha that she would probably be tending to her garden the next morning after dropping her daughter and Vita, along with Rena and Ruri off at the airport.

"Well, I can't stay up all night," she said and finished off her cup and placed it in the sink and then headed to bed.

**Author Comments: Not a very good chapter but like the prologue, ****I'll**** update it with improved grammar/spelling over time. Revised two times, last revision was 11/22/2007**


	3. Act 1 l Visitation

The morning light cast through the windows of Sakuya's bedroom, soon her alarm went off, waking her up. She stretched her arms and looked to her side, noting that Vita was asleep beside her.

As she swung her legs out from under her sheets, she accidently brushed up against Vita, waking her up. "Your awake?" Vita asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Before you," Sakuya rasped and got up. While she undressed, Vita walked over to her window and opened it. "Beautiful day today," Vita said.

Sakuya nodded. "It is, just wish mother could go with us…" Sakuya said in a sad tone.

Vita smiled and turned toward Sakuya. "I'm sure she wants to go as well, but you already know why she can't," Vita said.

She sighed. "I know…" she said and put her school uniform on, one that was in her closest. She saw her ruined one on the table; she didn't say anything before leaving her room and heading downstairs.

At the table, Sakuya sat and waited for her mother to finish fixing breakfast. Vita came down a few minutes later to join them, taking a seat next to Sakuya.

"After breakfast, pack up your things ok?" Nanoha said, putting down a plate of pancakes with fruit in them. "Enjoy," she smiled.

Sakuya took a small bit before smiling. Nanoha watched as her daughter went to work on the pancakes, Vita just shook her head.

Vita rose from her chair and walked over to the counter, pouring both her and Sakuya a glass of milk, she placed the glass in front of Sakuya and then another next to her plate.

Breakfast only lasted five minutes; Sakuya finished her plate off quickly. She placed it in the sink then drank her milk before placing that to in the sink; she then headed to her room to pack some things.

"Vita, help her as well please ok?" Nanoha asked. Vita nodded and, once done with her breakfast, went upstairs to help her.

While in the room, Vita watched as Sakuya packed two of her stuffed animals along with some changes of clothing. "How long are we going to be there Vita?" Sakuya asked her, Vita thought about it for a minute before answering. "About a week, perhaps two," Vita said.

Sakuya sighed, stopping her packing and looking toward the window. "Vita, Nanoha often spoke of someone else.. umm… Vivio I think?" she asked.

"Vivio is, like you, an adopted child," Vita said and folded her arms over her chest.

_But I'm not Nanoha's child…._ She thought before shaking her head, "Why haven't I seen her here though?" Sakuya asks curiously.

Vita shook her head. "Vivio is under the church, and somehow the TSA managed to put an order on her to where Nanoha can't go near her," she said.

Sakuya blinked. "Huh? Order?" she said, confused.

"It's nothing, you'll meet her anyway when we visit the church," Vita smiled.

The young girl nodded and went back to packing, "how old is she?"

Vita thought about it for a second. _She was five during the JS Incident… she'll be nine years old now… _"She's nine right now, you're her senpai," Vita said.

She closed her bag and looked at it. "But.. she's known Nanoha longer though… so actually she'd be my senpai…" she said and hefted the bag and went downstairs. Vita shook her head and turned toward a lamp that was on a desk next to the bed. "Two years since Sakuya was adopted, four since Vivio was… and Nanoha is worried about them both," she said and rubbed her chin.

Downstairs Sakuya was waiting on the couch until the doorbell rang. She hoped up and rushed over to the door and opened it, "Morning Ruri-chan! Rena-chan!" Sakuya said, smiling at the two of them.

Ruri and Rena both stared at Sakuya before greeting her with a bow, when they raised their heads they both said, "Morning, Sakuya-chan."

"Umm… come in," Sakuya said, opening the door and stepping to the side. The two girls entered the house, marveling at the size. They'd spent some nights with Sakuya before but each time they were amazed at the house and its size. The twins placed their bags up against the wall just under the window looking out at the driveway.

Her friends walked around the living room and then took a seat on the couch. Sakuya laid her arms on the cushions and smiled. "Want to play some games while we wait?" she asked them.

"No time for game's Sakuya," Nanoha said and picked up her bag. "You three have a flight to catch," she said.

"Awww…." Sakuya pouted and pushed off the cushions. "Wait.. where's Vita?" she then asked when she noticed that Vita wasn't around.

Nanoha blinked and pointed out the window. "There, she's waiting by the car," she said. Sakuya blinked and looked out the window, finding Vita standing next to the car wearing her military uniform. "I thought Vita quit?"

"Not quit, just retired, but she's still allowed to wear the uniform," Nanoha said and picked up the twins bags and brought them out to the car and packed them in the trunk. "Come on you three," she said while leaning up against the door.

Rena, Ruri and Sakuya piled into the back seats and buckled up. Vita took the passenger seat, while Nanoha naturally took the driver's side.

The drive to the airport was quiet; Sakuya and her friends hadn't felt like talking. As Nanoha watched the road, Vita was occasionally glancing around.

_Nanoha… do you feel that?_ Vita said telepathically to Nanoha.

_Yes I do, there's a strong magic nearby, but I can't figure out where it is exactlyNanoha_ says right back and glances to her left. 

Sakuya was obviously wondering what was wrong; she had noticed her mother and Vita acting oddly. She was about to say something when her mother drove into the airport parking lot, she parked the car and got out and walked around it.

Satisfied that everything was now fine she opened the trunk, grabbed her daughters and the twin's bags, and placed them on the ground. The twins along with Sakuya got out of the car and picked up their things, Vita got out and looked around.

They walked a short distance to the doors leading into the airport; Nanoha only went as far as the security gates before stopping. "You three behave and listen to Vita-chan ok?" she said, kneeling down to their heights.

"Hai," the twin's and Sakuya said in unison.

"Have a safe trip Vita, watch them for me," Nanoha said to Vita, she rolled her eyes and said. "I always do, you just be careful ok?" she said and ushered the three girls through the security gates and beyond.

Nanoha watched them leave before walking out of the airport and to her car. She was about to step in when she felt the same presence again, this time, however, she knew who it was.

She sighed and got out of the car and walked over to the entrance to the dark alley. "Not very discrete aren't we?" she said to no one in particular.

Somewhere in the dark alley, someone said. "You know our rules,"

Nanoha smiled. "I do, so, what brings you and your group to our neck of the galaxy?"

"I've been told of a young girl you have in your possession, you realize just how dangerous she is… you must not let her stay out of your sight," the person said. His sounded full of genuine concern.

The adult grumbled. "The last time you people were here you decimated an entire planet just to destroy one person…" she said in a hateful tone.

A sigh could be heard. "Not like they had much of a choice, it was either that or this whole place… your still alive today thanks to them"

She shook her head. "Yea… well.." Nanoha said and pushed off the wall and walked over to the car. Although Nanoha couldn't see it, the man shook his head and watched as she drove off.

"It's only a matter of time before it happens… and when it does there is nothing she'll be able to do to stop the coming destruction, they only barely avoided certain death a few years ago due to sheer luck.." he said and sighed once more before turning around and walking out of the dark alley.

He was revealed to be a young boy around twelve or thirteen, he removed his coat to reveal a school uniform. "If she's not going to intervene and protect those around that girl, then maybe I better," he said and threw the coat into the air where it dissolved. He walked a short distance before he disappeared.

At the boarding ramp, Sakuya and her friends along with Vita boarded a shuttle. Unbeknownst to them, someone was already on board and watching them closely.

As they took their seats, the boy continued to watch, sitting down just a few rows behind. He listened as the boarding ramp was pulled away and the shuttle began to taxi onto the runway.

An announcement was made but he wasn't paying attention, instead still watching Sakuya. His back pressed into the seat as the shuttles main engines came online and rocketed down the runway the cabin arched up and into the sky, breaching the atmosphere before dimension jumping.

The trip to the transit station was very quick; it had only taken thirty minutes before the shuttle docked with the station. Sakuya and her group disembarked and headed into the main entry area of the station, "we have a few hours, want to get something to eat?" Vita asked them. The three girls nodded and followed Vita.

They went into a nearby restaurant and had a light lunch, realizing that they didn't have much time they quickly ate and then left to board their connecting flight.

Their connection flight was aboard a much larger ship, a passenger transport rather than a small shuttle.

As they boarded Vita noticed that some of the staff were eying Sakuya, and it made her nervous. Vita maneuvered around the three girls so she would be behind them.

"Is that her?" one of the transport employees said as he looked at a picture. "Yep," he said just as a boy approached.

"Sir, they are aboard." The employee said.

"And the pilot?" he asked.

"Unaware that most of his staff has been replaced by our own group," the man said.

The boy grinned and walked onto the transport. "It's against our orders, but they aren't here to supervise our work…" he said and walked past the man. "Since it's only them that are headed to the TSA Headquarters, let's go ahead and leave ahead of schedule," the boy said. The man nodded and went inside, as he walked down the hallway of the transport he could heard the boarding doors close behind him.

The transport soon fired away from the transit station and into dimensional space. The group had taken a seat in the middle row, the cabin was fairly large, allowing Vita to make sure no one 'suspicious' was allowed to get close without her knowing.

Sakuya stared out of the window, mesmerized by the beauty of space. She had only been on a trip like this twice since Nanoha had adopted her, once was a year ago. The other was when Nanoha had adopted her into the family.

As Vita glanced around, she noticed the absence of a steward. Which was odd to her because before she had always seen them walking the aisles even if it was only a couple people on board.

As the boy watched the group, he grumbled. "I can't attack them with that damn girl with them… won't even be able to get close," he said and balled up his fist.

With a shake of his head, he turned around and then felt something stick him in the chest. "Ah----!" he grunted as he stared into the eyes of another person. "Your weak bro, you should've killed her back on the station," the person in front of him said, her voice girlish. He blinked and looked down, noting the large knife in his knife.

"R….Rin….w-w-why…." He said, blood appearing on his mouth. "We have orders to kill her from the Resin Syndicate, you remember?" the girl said.

The boy nodded weakly before the girl pulled the knife out. He fell onto his knees, before collapsing onto the ground. Blood spread out across the deck plating; she looked at the knife and licked it. "Mmmm…. Not bad…" she said and swung the blade, blood flew off the knife and onto the walls.

"Cancel this operation; it's too risky to kill her while that girl is to close…"

"When then?" A man behind her said.

"We have a special agent aboard the TSA HQ, we'll let her deal with Sakuya," the girl said and tossed the knife onto the ground. "When they investigate this, they'll see it points to her," she said, smiling and turning away from the body. As they walked away, however, the body dissolved and then there was nothing but a small device sitting next to where the body had laid.

The rest of the trip went by without any more trouble, Vita had watched as the transport docked in one of the TSA's massive hanger bays. As the ship came to a complete stop, hovering in the air, a boarding tunnel appeared from the wall and traversed the distance between the transport and the station.

Sakuya and her friends disembarked the transport; heading down a hallway. Vita followed close behind until they arrived at the guest lobby, waiting for them was Hayate Yagami, Fate Testarossa, and Tiana Lanster.

"Welcome," Hayate said and stared at the three girls, who bowed a few seconds later. "Thank you for letting us visit," Sakuya said to her, she smiled at Hayate.

"No problem," Hayate smiled back at her and then turned to Fate and Tiana. "You've already met, but, this is Enforcer Fate Testarossa and Private Second Class Tiana Lanster," she said.

The girls bowed to them. "Nice to meet you," the twin said, being their first time meeting Fate and Tiana.

Above the group, watching the introductions, an older girl stood. "Mmm…. So that's her fear…." She said and continued to probe the girls mind before bearing a devious grin. "And she has a heart condition.. even better…" she said and spun her finger in the air.

"So where do you want to go first?" Hayate asked the girls. Sakuya asked if they could see some more ships and Hayate smiled, "sure, come with us," she said and began to lead the group away.

They only got as far as the door when Sakuya suddenly stopped, her eyes wide in terror. Vita looked at her, "what's wrong Sakuya?" she asked. However, the young girl didn't respond as she stared straight forward.

She was like this for only a few seconds before she fell to one knee and grabbed her head. Tear's came from her eyes, Hayate and Fate ran over, Hayate grabbing her shoulders. "What's wrong Sakuya?!" she said, concerned. The girl continued to stare.

Above the woman was finding it hard 'not' to laugh. That's right.. keep reliving the same nightmare… she grinned before hearing someone behind her. Psh… oh well.. guess I won't kill you today… she thought, grumbling.

Sakuya eyes turned dark before she staggered forward and collapsed. "SAKUYA!" the twins shouted. "We need a medic!" Fate shouted as several officers nodded to relay a medical emergency. "Just hang on Sakuya," Vita said.

**Author Note: Chapter is subject to changes, as in spelling/grammar. One revision made since submission of this chapter. **


	4. Act 1 l Kidnapping

_One week later_

_Church Hospital_

_Morning_

A cool morning breeze blew through an open window of the Church Hospital. The room was a dark white color, with a table and a flower vase up against the wall, on the right side of the vase, against the other wall was a hospital bed.

A young girl was asleep; wearing what appeared to be a hospital gown. Sitting in a chair next to the bed was Nanoha, and beside her was Vivio who was watching her with curious eyes.

"Vivio, I'm going down to the lobby. Let me know if Sakuya wakes up ok?" Nanoha asked her. Vivio nodded, "Ok," she said softly and watched as her mother left.

Vivio turned her attention back to a sleeping Sakuya and over toward a patient list. On it, Sakuya's first name, along with her last name – Yagami, was listed. Next to her name was the listed medical reason for her being here: Cardiovascular Disorder.

"Car…De…O….Las…." Vivio said, trying to pronounce the word. She stopped after two tries' and shook her head; she made a mental note to ask her mother about the word later. As she sat there, looking over Sakuya, she heard the girl moan before she saw her open her eyes.

"You're awake," Vivio said softly, yet excitedly. Sakuya blinked and glanced about the room; she then sat up and stared at Vivio. "W….who are you?" she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Vivio blinked and then placed her hand on her chest. "My name's Vivio, Vivio Takamachi," Vivio said, smiling at her after she was done introducing herself.

She stared at Vivio, curious about the girl. "Your… Nanoha's daughter?" Sakuya asked.

"Uh huh, but so are you!" Vivio said. "Even though you're not of our family, Mother still treats you like her daughter," she said. Sakuya smiled and swung her legs out from under the sheets, she rubbed the back of her neck before getting up and walking over to the window. She looked out and saw a group of children below playing a game of tag.

Vivio glanced up from the bed that Sakuya was sleeping in and toward her. "Want to go outside?" she asked Sakuya. Sakuya smiled weakly, then looked down at the window sill. "I'd like that but," she said and turned around and raised her arms, showing off what she was wearing.

"I can't exactly go out there wearing this," she said. Vivio blinked and then laughed, "I guess your right, let's ask Sister Schach," Vivio suggested.

As if on cue, or just summoned by her name, a knock came to the door and was opened. "Morning Sakuya," Sister Schach said as she walked into the room and stared at Sakuya. She was carrying something in her arms that was wrapped in a towel.

"Sister Schach, uhh, I'd like to take Sakuya outside but…" Vivio said and glanced at her. Schach smiled and placed what she was carrying onto the bed. "But you feel that she shouldn't go out wearing a hospital gown," Schach said and began to unwrap what she had been carrying.

Vivio and Sakuya both watched. Sakuya was curious what the sister had brought, and got her answer when the towel was off and revealed the same thing that Vivio was wearing. "A uniform?" Sakuya said, walking over to the bed. Schach lifted it off the bed and handed it to her, she took it and looked it over. "Thanks," she said.

"You aren't a student of our magic school, but I ask and was told you may wear it while you are here," Schach said, smiling.

"Uh… A.. Arigatou," Sakuya said, blushing slightly and turning away. Schach nodded, "no problem, get yourself dressed and I'll take you outside. Vivio, you got tutoring lessons in just a few minutes remember?" Schach said to Vivio.

Vivio mumbled. "Do I have to…." She said in a low tone. The sister placed her hands on her hips and stared at Vivio, Vivio looked down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact. "Vivio…" Schach said.

After a minute, Vivio sighed and raised her hands in defense. "Ok ok…." She said and got up from the chair and walked over to the door. "Ummm…."

"You can talk to Sakuya after your tutoring session," Schach said. With that Vivio left for her session, Schach sighed and turned to Sakuya. "When you're ready just come out of the room, I'll be waiting right outside," the sister said and left her room, closing the door behind her.

Sakuya smiled and removed the hospital gown she had been wearing and set it on the edge of the bed. She looked at the two piece uniform, she didn't like it's design already but realized that she didn't have much of a say in what she wore. She quickly put the uniform on and checked herself in the mirror, "my size…" she said and spun around to make sure everything was in place.

When she was done, she walked over to the door and opened it, walking outside her room she found Schach waiting there, her hands collapsed together in front of her. When she noticed Sakuya she smiled, causing the young girl to blush, "shall we go?" Schach asked her.

The young girl nodded and followed the sister down the hallway. "Sakuya, how's your mother doing?" Schach asked.

Sakuya smiled, her hands clasped in front of her. "I rarely see my mother, she's very busy at headquarters.. most of the time Nanoha takes care of me," she responded and looked up at the sister. "But… why is Nanoha taking care of me when I'm not her daughter, instead of Vivio who 'is' her daughter?"

Schach stopped walking when she heard Sakuya's question. She stood there in thought before turning toward the young girl, "because… the TSA put some sort of order on her that she's not allowed to see Vivio except on weekends… we are the church don't agree with it, in fact, we fought it but for some reason the head was forced to agree with it," Schach said.

"I…see" Sakuya said and continued walking toward the stairs.

"Sakuya, what do you remember?" Schach asked her and rushed to catch up. "Last thing I remember was being at my mother's work place, I then found myself here…" Sakuya said and continued down the stairs.

_She __doesn't__ remember…. Perhaps __it's__ for the best…_ Schach thought.

They both left the hospital portion of the church and out into a flower garden. Several children were playing a game of tag until they saw Sakuya, she just smiled as they approached her. "Sister Schach, good morning," an older girl said and bowed to Schach. "Good morning Kima, you children having fun I hope?"

"Hai," Kima said and turned toward Sakuya. "I like you all to meet Sakuya, she isn't a student here but will be here for awhile at the hospital, please make her feel welcome ok?" Schach said. The other children all nodded, some said ok while others just smiled. "Want to play a game?" Kima asked Sakuya, who was trying very hard not to look nervous.

"S-sure…" Sakuya said, but wasn't able to say anymore before Kima grabbed her hand and dragged her away from Sister Schach. The sister giggled and walked over to a bench and sat down. She watched as the children, including Sakuya, started a game of tag and began to run around the garden, avoiding the flowers.

As she sat there and watched another person walked up from behind and placed their elbows on top of the bench. "How much does she remember?" A familiar voice said to Schach. "Not much Hayate, only that she was at HQ one moment, and next she's waking up here…"

"How painful would it be for her to discover that her friends…" Hayate said, forcing herself to stop briefly before continuing, "were killed…"

Schach shook her head. "She'd be devastated, especially since she won't know how they died, but not even I know how they died, or you for that matter," Schach said and glanced up at Hayate. The girl was wearing a full military uniform; she had a professional smile on and was watching Sakuya and the other children.

As they watched, however they noticed two soldiers approaching the group. "Hmm? What is the ground forces MPs doing here…" Hayate asked before noticing Nanoha standing near a tree.

The soldiers walked past the children and toward Nanoha. "Excuse me, but you are violating TSA property and are not allowed to be here at this time," they said to her.

Nanoha grumbled. "Since when did the TSA have authority over this place? It belongs to the-" she said before a soldier grabbed her arm. "I'll have to _insist _you leave…" the soldier said, his voice raised.

Hayate and Schach were about to head over when they saw a streak go by, Hayate blinked. "Wasn't that.." she said before hearing a young girls voice. "Leave my momma alone!" Vivio shouted and head butted the MP, sending him crashing to the ground.

"You witch!" The other MP shouted and slammed the butt of his rifle against Vivio's head, causing her to hit the ground with a thud. She stared up at the MP, tears in her eyes. The two MP's looked at her and then at Nanoha, the look in her eyes made them regret what they had just done.

They didn't have time to react to Nanoha, as someone else from behind attacked them. A blinding light spread fourth, from where the children were, when the light dissipated, Sakuya stood there clad in an odd bluish armor that covered most of her body. She held a sword in both hands, and oddly enough, she seemed smaller than before.

She opened her eyes and stared at the two MPs. One had a lump in his throat while the other raised his weapon. "We have a right to defend ourselves if---!" the MP managed to say before his weapon was split in half, he stared blankly as the front half slowly drifted toward the ground. He could see the mirror image of Sakuya as she flew by him.

"She's a mage?!" the other MP shouted and took out a card. Hayate and Schach didn't recognize the card, but they would in a second.

The one holding the card brought it up. "Do it," he said. "Time Prison!" the card shouted. Sakuya spun on her heels and brought her sword up, then stopped suddenly as the area around her turned into a light shade of yellow. Her actions ceased and her movement halted, she couldn't move.

"Heh…" one of the two smiled and walked toward her. As he did he brought his weapon up and was about to touch the field when it shattered. Sakuya stumbled forward and brought her swords up, but then collapsed, two loud clangs could be heard as the swords hit the ground. She fell into the waiting arms of the MP.

"Sakuya!" Vivio said and bolted from where she had been laying, but didn't get very far before being shot in the chest by the MP that had caught Sakuya.

The MP lifted Sakuya's unconscious body and began to back away. Hayate was at a loss for words, unable to figure out why the ground infantry were doing this, "what authority do you-" she said before the MP's turned toward her and raised their weapons.

"Protection!" Raging Heart said and formed a barrier around Hayate and Schach just as the MP fired at them. The beam split across the barrier and into the building beyond.

The MPs walked through the gate's and soon disappeared into an armor car which sped down the road. Nanoha could only watch with anger as she slammed her fist against the wall, causing it to crumble. "Damn it.. how useless," she said and continued to stare.

Hayate shook her head and walked up behind. "Your powers are sealed Nanoha, you can't blame yourself… besides.. they are overstepping their bounds," she said. Nanoha just sighed in agreement and looked toward the children, most were now crying after what had happened. "Tend to your daughter Nanoha, I'll deal with mine," she said. Nanoha nodded and ran over to Vivio, who was trying to get back onto her feet.

Sakuya's mother rubbed her chin and watched as the armored car disappeared around a bend. "She transformed…. That necklace that she has around her neck… but.. she seemed different.." Hayate said and walked back into the church.

_**Somewhere else on Mid **__**Chil**__**, inside a dark room with several displays.**_

"So, they've taken the bait… is it ready?"

"Yes Sir, once she enters their HQ's…. it'll be the last 'duty' they perform"

"Gooood… I couldn't get them 'before' but perhaps this will hurt them more"


	5. Act 1 l Planning

_**One day later, TSA HQ**_

Hayate paced back and forth in front of her desk, her finger taping her shoulder. "Hayate…." Rein said as she watched her master. The doors then chimed and opened two teenage girls and two younger kids walked into the room. "Reporting as ordered ma'am," the four of them said.

"I'm glad you four came at such a short notice," Hayate said and walked around her desk and took a seat in the chair. "Fate-chan should be here soon along with Nanoha," she said and stared at Subaru, Tiana, Carol and Elio, all of them looked somewhat older than she had last seen them.

"I thought Nanoha couldn't come?" Tiana asked.

"The rear admirals have made an exception, in fact, they removed the seal on her magic since this has now become an internal issue," Hayate said, hands clasped in front of her.

The doors chimed once more and opened to reveal Fate and Nanoha. They walked past the four previous forwards and to either side of Hayate.

Carol noticed that Nanoha wore an angry expression, but she also had the apperence of being very tired. "N-Nanoha… Y-you haven't slept much have you?" Carol asked, nervous about the question.

Nanoha tried to smile but it wouldn't come out, so instead she said. "I've spent the past three days trying to understand 'why' the ground forces came to the church-" she said before Hayate took over, "-we discovered that the two MP's who attacked Nanoha and also Vivio and Sakuya weren't the only two, in fact, they have four whole squads along with two sniper teams observing the church, according to a general at the HQ, they removed Sakuya for our own protection.." Hayate said, but grumbled when she was finished.

"'protection' huh?" Subaru repeated the word and glanced in Nanoha direction. "Something on your mind?" Hayate asked. "Yes ma'am, I find it hard to believe that they would remove a young girl just for your 'protection' with such force," Subaru said.

Elio nodded. "Something has been strange though," he said, causing Hayate and the others to turn toward him. "Well, the Enviro Squad requested some supplies from the ground HQ's several weeks ago and we never got them, luckily the pouching group that we've had problems with stopped attacking the herds and seems to have actually disappeared completely, but still…" Elio said.

"I also noticed that the ground forces have been consolidating their position around their HQ's, almost like they're expecting something we don't," Fate added.

Hayate clasped her hands in front of her, resting her head against them. "Even so, there is no way for us to contact the ground forces.. they haven't returned our calls now for three days," she said and glanced at the wall. A display suddenly appeared showing the ground forces HQs, but it was what they didn't see that made them curious.

"I see no movements outside the building, in fact, I see nothing going on in the city itself," Carol said as she studied the image.

"That's correct, we've got unconfirmed reports that 'something' happened within their HQ's, but as of yet we haven't been able to discover 'what' exactly," Hayate said and closed the image. "I asked the rear admiral if I may investigate this and I was granted permission, I've also asked your commanding officers if I could borrow you for this mission. It's not mandatory, it's optional, if you want to help you may," Hayate said.

The four of them looked at each other. "Of course we'll help, besides, whatever happened to them will ultimately affect us as well," Elio said.

**Staging Point Alpha – twenty miles outside ground force's HQ.**

"It's pretty quiet," a TSA Soldier said as he looked through a set of binoculars. He stared at one of many roads leading outside of the city, the only activity were various infantry vehicles that were blocking the road.

In a tent behind the soldier, Hayate looked at a map. She wore a tired expression, as if she hadn't gotten any rest. "And your sure of that?" she asked a soldier who stood on the other side of the table. "Yes ma'am, the cities pretty quiet, my fellow scouts have reported no activity what-so-ever. It's like a ghost town," the scout said.

Hayate rubbed her chin while looking at the map. "No activity?" she reiterated.

"None," The scout said. "It's strange, almost like the cities entire population just vanished over night."

The colonel shook her head and sat up. "Something's happened; Nanoha and Fate informed me that there is no air traffic either-" she said before being interrupted by an alarm. She turned toward an officer who was monitoring a camera. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"You remember the camera's we installed around the perimeter of the city?" the soldier asked her. Hayate nodded. "Well, they were equipped with a variety of sensors, motion, heat, etc… well.. they were also made to detect any biological weapons," he said and placed his finger on a flashing icon on the display.

"There's a biological agent active in the city?" Hayate asked, more rhetorical than a question.

The soldier nodded and repositioned the camera. On the display was a reddish haze that drifted across the ground, it was slow moving, but noticeable. "Yes ma'am, I don't know if this is the reason for the sudden silence, but I'll bet my next pay check," he said.

"No gambling aloud," Hayate smirked and turned back toward the scout leader. "Return to your squad, report on any changes," she said.

The soldier saluted and left the tent. Hayate stood there, her chest arched over the chair; the soldier sitting down was having a hard time keeping his eyes on the display.

Finally Hayate sighed and walked over to a chair and sat down, she took her cup that was on the table and looked at its contents. "A biological…. I wonder if someone unleashed a virus.." she asked herself and took a sip from her cup, "Rein should be back soon with Vita and Signum so we'll know in a bit,"

As she said this, a display suddenly appeared next to her. On it was Rein and Vita, along with Signum, both of them flew alongside her. "Rein, how's it look?" Hayate asked.

"Quiet, there's no activity at all, we've also discovered a biological 'plague' of some sort that had spread through the city but it seems to be dissipating," Rein said.

"Can we safely send in the teams?" Hayate asked her. Rein nodded, "In a few hour's we should be able to," she said.

"Very well then, keep searching please," Hayate said and Rein nodded, the display vanished a few seconds later.

**Several hours later, just outside the city limits**

"Tiana and her squad will be entering from the north, Nanoha will be entering from the west, Fate from the east and we will be coming in from the south," Vita said as she addressed her squad. Most were young mages fresh out of boot camp; some did have combat experience but most were green. "Pay attention to your surroundings, the city is very quiet and that's not a thing in my book," another mage said. He wore the bars of a captain.

Some of the mages appeared nervous; others seemed to be excited about their first mission. "Don't think this will be a walk in the park," Vita said, breaking the small talk that was occurring amongst the mages. "We have several objectives. One is to ascertain what happened; two is to arrest General Hashen and General Yren. Third is to locate a kidnapped eleven year old girl, the TSA has put priority on the first two objectives, the last, sadly, is only optional but it is one that we'll be doing as I'm sure the other squads will as well," Vita said.

Several of the mages looked at each other and then at the captain. "Something on your mind?" The captain asked.

"N-no sir," one of the mages said. Vita shook her head and walked toward the entrance to the tent, "we'll be leaving in just a few minutes. Make sure you've got everything packed and ready," Vita said and exited the tent. As she walked through the small camp, she noted mages putting on battle armor, while others were just talking about the day's weather.

She approached a ranked officer on a raised platform. He was staring at a road leading into the city, he didn't see Vita, but strangely knew it was her. "Are they ready?"

"They're green, some are nervous, but yes, I think they are ready," Vita said and placed on hand on her hip. "Rein said something about a virus lose in the city," Vita said but saw the officer shake his head. "She also said it was mostly gone to, we don't know the location of where it was deployed but figures it might've been HQ…"

Vita didn't say a word and instead just kept listening. "We believe that someone carried the virus into HQ and unleashed it, we don't know if it was in a canister or carried in some other way," the officer said and turned toward Vita. "Be careful in there, I can't help but get the feeling that there's something in the city…." He said.

"Yea, we'll be careful. You just tell in-ops to keep their ears to the ground and inform us of any changes," Vita said and walked over to a truck that was stationed at the camp exit. Most of her squad had already gotten on board while some others were just now arriving.

As she boarded the passenger side she gestured to the driver. "All on board?" he called to the back. "Yep," someone shouted. The truck then moved slowly out of the camp and onto the main road and then toward the city. Vita crossed her arms over her chest and thought about what the ranking officer had said.

**Author Note: Short chapter, and in need of improvement. Still making improvements to previous chapters as well so don't worry ;)**

**Also, special thanks to Daishi Prime for a wonderful review. And Ray Venn Hakubi for pointing out several spelling errors that I hadn't noticed in my proofreading )**


End file.
